Shaggy dog story
Monday, November 21, 2011 at 15:30 
It's all getting a bit serious around here so here's some light relief with a twist in the tale (no pun intended).
Roly, our cockapoo puppy, is now 20 weeks old and here he is, photographed yesterday. He's not looking his absolute best because we'd just got back from a walk in a wet and muddy field in Peterborough where my son was playing rugby. (You should see the state of my car after he shook all the mud out of his fur. It's like the Somme in there.)
I've had lots of pets in my time – rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, gerbils, fish – but never a dog, so I'm still getting used to it. From the moment we got him, however, Roly has been the sweetest, most sociable animal you could wish to have. I don't think he's the brightest mutt in the world (more cocker spaniel than poodle, I would guess) but we love him to bits.
Others seem to like him too. Children are always coming up to stroke him. (Perhaps they think he's a teddy bear.)
A few weeks ago, when we took him into London, a taxi driver stopped his cab, climbed out, ran across the road to where we were standing, and gasped: "Is that a cockapoo?" We chatted for at least five minutes while his taxi sat, engine running, blocking one lane.
Back home in Cambridgeshire, walking around the village with Roly been quite an education. We've lived here for twelve years and I have discovered houses and cottages that I barely knew existed.
It's been an education in other ways too. On the whole the village is fairly clean and well maintained. (It should be. Our MP lives in a big house in the centre of the village directly opposite the Post Office.)
Off the beaten track, however, there's more litter than I care to see. I've seen plastic bottles and containers, fizzy drink cans, sweet wrappers, crisp packets, fast food cartons, paper tissues, even a traffic cone.
Interestingly, since we started walking Roly eight weeks ago, I have seen very few fag ends and only one cigarette pack. Discuss.
Reader Comments (8)
I purposefully look for them and smoking litter is not as bad as it was when the ban first came out. Smokers are getting wiser but I still despair at the lack of public campaigns to get them to use pocket ashtrays and dispose of ends responsibly - however, that would educate them away from bringing the cash to the treasury in smoking litter fines wouldn't it?
Lovely dog Simon. I love mine to bits too Batty and Toad father and son boxer dogs with great characters and energy. Unlike you, I've had a dog as a lifelong friend since childhood and I still miss those we lost through old age, and in one case, a road accident (perhaps the driver was smoking) .
Simon says he has seen plastic bottles and containers, fizzy drink cans, sweet wrappers, crisp packets, fast food cartons, paper tissues, even a traffic cone, but very few fag ends and only one cigarette pack.
This is absolutely true almost everywhere you go Simon, and especially in London's west end, which you must know as your office is there isn't it?
I was walking through Soho yesterday and I could hardly believe the ammount of chewing gum stuck to the pavements. It is absolutely disgusting and as we all know, almost impossible to clean off. I try my best to avoid it, as if you tread in the ghastly mess, it adheres to your shoes, and is difficult to remove, and make me feel physically sick.
Cigarette ends and empty packs on the other hand, are very few and far between. We have all heard of fines being handed out for dropping a cigarette butt, but does anyone know if anyone has yet been fined for depositing this vile muck onto our pavements?
I don't condone dropping of cigarette butts, but, unlike fast food packaging, it never attracts the inevitable rats. Some councils seem to have their priorities completely wrong when it comes to handing out fines for littering.
cig litter is also entirely biodegradable between one month and three years. Mine because they are only plant (tobacco), plant (rice paper) and plant (paper tip) will be back to the earth within one month and no the toxins don't kill plants or harm the enviornment. I put my fag ends in my compost and it makes my outdoor plants grow really well. I've had the best tomatoes ever this year
Awww! Sweet. Wet and muddy he might be, but just look at that totally gorgeous, happy "I've just had a really great wet and muddy walk" on his face!! He could probably only be happier if he'd found some fox poo to roll about in! Why is it that dogs' enjoyment of anything seems to increase in direct correlation with the amount of disgust that it causes to "their" humans? Oh, and by the way, now you've had one dog you simply won't, ever, be able to be without one. Dogs are addictive, you know ....
More pics of Roly, please!
O, that humans were more like dogs - I can't imagine a canine equivalent of a pursed-lipped, set-jawed puritan.
"O, that humans were more like dogs"?
Are you sure Joyce?
My son has a Snoutzer (or whatever it is) lovely looking little dog - very similar to the one in the picture - BUT - every time he takes it out for a walk he has to fight it off from eating other dog's poo!
Not exactly my idea of an ideal humen - mind you who knows what they get up to in the offices of ASH - they talk crap, so I wouldn't be at all surprised if they didn't eat it as well.
Huge chorus of Awwwwwwwwwwww 's from this house. They say dogs often look like their masters - dunno about the hair, Simon, but the beseeching eyes, for sure ...
and @ Joyce - no, that would be a cat.....